Ammunition manufacture



May 2, 1950 F. FISCHER 7 2,506,144

AMMUNITION MANUFACTURE Filed March 24. 1945 '5 Sheets-Sheet 1 CAP HOPPERIN V EN TOR. FRI TZ Fl 5 CHER AGENT May 2, 1950 F. FISGHER AMMUNITIONMANUFACTURE 5 Sheets-Shed 2 Filed March 24, 1945 5&8: ass

p INVENTOR. FRITZ FISCHER y 2, 1950 F. FlSCHER 2,506,144

AMMUNITION MANUFACTURE Filed March 24, 1945 v 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 flagsINVENTOR. FRITZ FISCHER AGENT M 1950 F. FISCHER AMMUNITION MANUFACTURE 5Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 124, 1945 y 1950 F. FISCHER 2,506Q144AMMUNITION MANUFACTURE Filed March 24,, .1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FRITZFISCHER BY 1 & A

shot shell.

Patented May 2, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFHE WNITION MANUFACTUREFritz Fischer, New York, N. Y., assignor to Itemington Arms Company,Inc., Bridgeport, Conn., a corporation of Delaware Application March 24,1945, Serial No. 584,711

2 Claims.

"tridge shells such as are ordinarily used in shotguns and which, priorto loading with powder and shot, comprise four essential parts, namely,a cylindrical body of paper or other suitable ;material to contain thepowder charge, a cupshaped metallic cap which is firmly secured to thebreech end of the body, a base wad which is forcedinto the breech end ofthe tube and. compressed therein to strengthen the head end of theshelland prevent gas leakage, and a primer seated in an aperture of thehead and base wad for igniting the powder charge in the body of theshell.

Heretofore, in making cartridge shells of this kind, the several partshave been made in separate machines and the assembly of these parts intheir completed or partially completed form has been carried out onseveral different machines. One accepted method has been to feed a paperbody and base wad assembly from a wad 'winding machine to a machine inwhich the assembly receives a partially formed cap: The cap heading andbase wad seating operations are performed in a separate machine. Asecond method heretofore used is to feed the body and base wad assemblyto a second machine which assembles the cap, heads the cap, seats thebase Wad and inserts the primer.

An object of the present invention is the provision of a single machinefor assembling the body, metallic cap, base wad and primer of a Afurther object is' to provide a shot shell assembling machine which willperform all of the operations of embossing a metal cap, assembling thecap on the breech end of a body. heading the cap, stamping the head,forming a primer pocket in the head, seating a base wad in the breechend of the body, and inserting a primer in the primer pocket. A furtherobject is to provide a machine having a rotatable dial provided with aplurality of pairs of apertures, each aperture being adapted to supportthe parts of a shot shell for assembly therein, and an upper and lowergate reciprocable to and from the dial for carrying the shot shellassembling tools into operative relationship with the apertures of thedial. A still further object is to provide dies for the apertures of thedial of a shot shell assempling machine, each die being designed toreceive a shot shell body and cap and to permit the performance thereinof all of the operations requisite to the complete assembly of a shotshell without removal of the shell body and cap from the die. A stillfurther object is to provide an improved method of heading shot shellcaps.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention willbe described in greater detail in the specification, reference beingmade to the drawings, in which:

Fig. l is'a side elevation, partly in section, of the shot shellassembling machine of this invention, including a fragmentary view ofthe hopper for feeding caps to a cap embossing unit fixed to the frameof the machine, the embossing unit constituting the first operatingstation. A wad hopper is shown diametrically opposite the cap hopper.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine on line' 2-2 of Fig. 1 notincluding the tools of the upper and lower gates, but showing the hopperfor feeding shell bodies to the dies of the dial and a fragmentaryportion of the mechanism for indexing the dial.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation in section of the machine on line33 of Fig. 2, including the mechanism for indexing the dial.

Figs. 4a and 4b are fragmentary schematic de velopments in section ofthe assembly dial showing single dial apertures having assembling diestherein and lettered successively from-A to P.

Fig. 4c is an enlarged side elevation in section of one of theassembling dies shown in an aperture in a fragmentary portion of thedial.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 4a, showing adetail of the guide means at the operating station for feeding shellbodies into the dies of the dial.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view on line 66 of Fig. 4a, showingthe detail of the means for intermittently feeding and guiding a basewad into a shell body.

In general, the improved shot shell assembling machine comprises arotatable dial having a plurality of pairs of apertures therein providedwith suitable dies hereinafter referred to as shell assembling elementsor dies to receive the paper tubes and metallic caps which are to beconverted into primed shot shells. The machine is designed to deliverone hundred and eighty shells per minute, and, to this end, eachoperation is performed in duplicate on successive pairs of shells aseach pair of dies of the dial is indexed opposite an operating station.For brevity, the

description which follows will be of the opera tions performed in asingle die at each operating station.

The operatin stations are identified by the hopper feed chutes anddischarge chutes arranged in fixed positions around the periphery of thedial as hereinafter described; and by the several tools and inspectiondevices carried on or actuated by the upper and lower reciprocating Inthe present embodiment, however,

component parts thereof will be-=moved orin-' dexed to stations,hereinafter identified as index stations, at which no operation isperformed on the components. Moreover, certain of the stations' are forperforming such operations as clearing, inspecting and cleaning emptydies of.

the dial.

Briefly, the successive steps in assembling a shot shell by the improvedmeans of this invention are as follows:

An embossed metallic cap is fed from an embossing 'unit into a die ofthe dial and indexed first to an inspection station and then to astation at which a tool of the upper gate enters the cap and seats it Onthe upper end of a tool actuated by the lower gate, the latter toolbeing momentarily stationary so as to locate the cap with respect to thedie. The tool of the upper gate then flares the mouth of the cap,thereby pinching the metal at the mouth of the cap tightly between thefunnel-shaped Walls of the die and the tapered nose of the tool.Subsequently,the punch of the lower gate moves upwardly relative to thefirmly held cap performing the operations of piercing, pocketing andhalf-heading.'1 The cap is then indexed to the next two operatingstations at which a shell bodyis fed' into-the cap and firmly seatedtherein. At the next two successive stations, a base wad is deliveredinto the body and firmly seated in the breech end thereof. The assembledbody cap and its'wad is then indexed to an operating station at which apunch in the lower gate initiates the full heading operation while thepunch in the upper. gate initially compresses the base wad; At the nextstation-full heading, is completed by a too1-of the lower gate while apunch in the upper gate. completes compression of the base Wadi]Theshell is then indexed to. an operating. stationat which a live primeris inserted into the primer pocket in the head of the. shell by means ofa punch of the lower gate. At the next station, a punch of the lowergate seats the. primer in the-primer pocket. The finaloperation on theshell is performed by a tool of the upper gate which enters the shelland forces it down' outrof its assembling die into a discharge chute.

Il'laSO doing, the flared mouth of the cap is ironed" or contracted bya, land of the die so that the mouth portion of the cap is squeezed intothe adjacent walls of the tubular body making a substantially gas tightseal.. Following discharge of the-completed shell, the die is inspectedand' cleaned prior to receiving a new cap.

The drawings illustrate one embodiment of the.

invent-ion, which, as shown in Fig. 1, comprises a-machine having asubstantially cylindrical drum-shaped base l5 open atits upper end Itand provided in its interior with a pair of bearing posts I! mounted onthe floor of the base ii for supportin a main crankshaft 18, the latterbeing rotatably mounted at its opposite ends in bearings I9 of thebearing posts. One enclof the shaft l8 extends through a bearing 20 inthe wall of the base and is provided at its outer end with a drivepulley 22 which is keyed thereto, The pulley: may-be driven by a beltconnection to a pulley 23 of a motor driven power unit, indicatedgenerally at 24, see Figs. 2 and 3, and which, as

shown, may be secured to the base l5.

Supportedon a suitable flange I5 circumscribing .the open end.v 16 of.the base is a heavy, substantially disk-shapedplaten 25 secured to theflange, I5 preferably by countersunk bolts (not shown) or other suitablefastening means. The plate'n is of suitablethickness so as to constitutea rigidplanar supporting member spanning the open end N3 of the base l5and is provided at its center with an aperture havinga cylindrical hub26 which is formed integrally with the platen and at substantially rightangles to the horizontal plane thereof, the upper and lower'ends of thehub 26 extending above and below the plane of the platen as shown inFig. 1. Radially extending webs 21 on the underside of the platen 25provide stiffeningmeans for this structure. The hub is provided with abushing 28 to receive a reciprocable post 29,'the upper'end of which isreduced in diameter to provide a' substantially square shoulder 30" forsupporting an upper gate 32.- The upper gate 32'comprises asubstantially disk-shaped, rimmed plate 33 having a central hub 34 andradial stiffening webs 35 and is adapted to support the several toolsfor perform ing various operations uponthe shot shell-components as thelatterfare"indexedbeneath the tools of the upper gate as hereinafterdescribed;

The upper gate is secured on the reduced and threaded end of the post 29by means fof a nut 36 and washer 31, although any other suitablefastening means 'maylbe employed. A key is shown at 38 .for locking thegate'32 to the post 29 to preventrotation of thegate.

The lower end of the post 29 is provided with a substantiallyrectangular box yoke 39 having a block 40 slidable' therein to receive acrank 4| of the main crankshaft'lB. end of the post 29 is received in abushed cylindrical flange 42 formed integrally on'the fioor of the basel5 in axial alignment with the post 29 and constitutes guide means forthe lower end of the post during reciprocation thereof by the maincrankshaft. l8.,

Thelatter is shown provided on opposite sides of the main crank 4| withtwo smaller cranks 43 which are adapted to engage suitable blocks'44slidable in substantially rectangular box yokes 45 formed integrally orotherwise secured at diametrically opposite positions on the lower endof the sleeve 46 is arranged to have a smooth sliding fit on the lowerportion of the fixed hub 26; Re ciprocating motion is given to the lowergate 41 by the above described box yokes 44 and the cranks 43 of themain crankshaft l8,

Floatingly supported on the upper surface of the fixed platen .25 is atransfer disk or dial 50 which comprises a fiat; -relatively thin,circular The extreme lower plate substantially equal in diameter to thediameter of either gate and provided with a cen tral aperture forreceiving a washer shaped brass bearing piece 52, the latter beingarranged to make a smooth rotating fit about the fixed hub 26. In thisconnection, an anti-friction insert 53 is shown recessed in the uppersurface of the platen 25 adjacent the hub 26 to further reduce frictionbetween adjacent surfaces of the dial 50 and the platen 25.

As shown in Fig. 2, the dial 50 is provided with a plurality ofsubstantially equally spaced apertures arranged in the form of twoconcentric rings on the dial. In the present embodiment there aretwenty-one apertures in the inner ring, each being provided with acylindrical sleeve 54, as shown in Fig. 1. These sleeves are adapted toreceive vertically projecting pins of the upper gate as the latter movesdownwardly so as to insure proper alignment of the tools of the gate andthe dies of the dial 56. Fig. 1 shows only two of these aligning pins,but it will be understood that more pins may be used.

The outer ring of apertures is adjacent the outer edge of the dial andcomprises twenty-one pairs of openings, each opening containing anassembling die 55. It will be noted that a pair of assembling dies 55 islocated substantially opposite each aperture of the inner ring oflocating apertures.

An assembling die 55 is shown in detail in Fig. 40. It comprises agenerally cylindrical body 56 having a flange 51 on its lower end andscrew threads at its upper end. The body 56 is inserted threaded endfirst up through a counterbored aperture of the dial and is held thereinby a nut 58 or similar type of fastening means secured on its threadedend. Each flange 51 is received in the counterbore in the underside ofthe dial 56. A hardened and ground sleeve 59 is shown on the shank ofthe body to insure a close and lasting fit between the renewable diebody 56 and the walls of its aperture in the dial.

The bore of the body 56 is characterized by a substantially cylindricalland 60 which is substantially equal in diameter to the outside diameterof the cap of a completely assembled shot shell. Above the land 60, thebore is flared outwardly to provide a funnel-shaped mouth or approachsurface 62. The lower end of the land 66 terminates in a substantiallysquare shoulder junction 63 with a counterbore 64 having substantiallythe configuration of the finished cap rim.

The dial 59 is arranged to be indexed so as to carry each pair ofassembling dies 55 opposite the respective operating stations of themachine. Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate one suitable form of dial indexingmeans which comprises a curved block 66 substantially rectangular incross section and slidable in an arcuate slot 66' formed between theouter edge 50 of the dial 50 and the arcuate edge 61 of a table 68secured to the open upper end l6 of the base l5. The block 66 isprovided with a its ends adapted to engage in the cam groove 15 and beltI9 from a pulley 88 of the power unit 2|.

As the cam drum rotates, the lever 18 is oscillated about its pivotedend 10' so that its opposite end has substantially rectilinearreciprocating motion. The pivoted link connecting the friction block 66thus moves the block first clockwise and then in a counterclockwisedirection, see Fig. 2. As the block is drawn counterclockwise, the ballsare substantially free. However, when the block 66 is moved clockwise,the balls frictionally engage the edge 56' of the dial and rotate thedial around the central hub 26. The friction block 66 is shown with acover plate 660 fastened thereon to keep dirt out of the ball socketsand from between the adjacent surfaces of the block and slot 66'. Thelength of the stroke or throw of the lever I6 is suitably arranged sothat the friction block 66 inde'xesthe dial successively through arcs ofsubstantially 12.4 for moving successive pairs of assembling dies 55opposite the operating stations.

As mentioned above, the operating stations of the machine are related tohopper feed means mounted in fixed relation to the dial around theperiphery thereof, and to pairs of tools and inspection devices carriedon or actuated by the nonrotatable vertically reciprocating upper andlower gates.

As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 40. there is associated with the firstoperating station, identified by the letter A, a cap hopper 82 and a capembossing unit 83 secured to the flange I5 of the base adjacent theouter edge of the platen 25 and driven from a suitable power source (notshown). The embossed caps are fed successively from the embossing unitin properly oriented relationship through a pair of feed. tracks 84 to apair of assembling dies of the dial. Details of the means for feedingthe caps to the dies are not shown since any conventional means may beused without departing from the scope of the invention.

Fig. 4a. shows one of a pair of compound punches 85 carried by the uppergate 32 and adapted to move down through one of the guide sleeves 84 atthe end of one of the feed tracks 84 to push an embossed cap therefrominto a die 55 of the dial. As shown, each punch 85 may comprise aholddown rod 86, spring loaded or otherwise constructed so as to bemovable relative to the outer sleeve portion 85' for holding the capdown in the assembling die during withdrawal of the outer sleeve portion85' from the cap. 1

After the upper gate has moved upwardly, withdrawing the punches 85 fromthe caps, the dial 56 is indexed to carry the caps to the next operatingstation. In the present embodiment, the next operating station does notcorrespond to the first index station through which the dial is. moved,this being an empty station, as indicated by the letter B in Fig. 4a,but to the second index station,

C at which a pair of inspection punches 81 of the upper gate 32 inspectfor the presence of the caps in the dies and for any foreign material inthe caps. Each of the inspection punches shown comprises an outer sleevemember 81 havin an apertured thimble 88. over its lower end for engagingthe upper edge of a cap; and a spring loaded rod 86 arranged to be moveddown positively through the apertured thimble 88 relative to the outersleeve 81'. In theevent the thlmble 88 moves an abnormal distance or inthe event the rod 69 engages foreign material in the cap and is movedrelative to the sleeve 81', suitable means (not shown) will be operatedto stop the machine 15 so as to permit an attendant to correct thetrouble.

aperture in the fixed platen 25.

7 known as half-heading.

. caps.

At; operating station; D, the in the:,.assembl'ing dies of thedialarexengaged-by axially aligned tools" .of both the upper and lowergates 31- and respectively which move in suitablytimed relationshiptoward the dial 50. .Eachtool of a pair of toolsofthe upper gatecomprises a hollow stem ovhav ing a substantially. cylindrical portion92 of reduced diameter adjacentv its nose and a te- 'pered portio'n 93above the cylindricalportion, the

angle of: thetaper corresponding substantially to the approach angle. oftheiunneleshaped mouth 62 of the (die. body:fi.

E'ach tool of the pair of tools M-actuatedby the lower gate comprisesasleeve member 95 havin ai 'substantially square end 95, the. surface ofwhich. may. be provided. with suitably embossed flgures for'stamping-,the-head end of the cap with appropriate insignia. The sleevemember 95 is suitably supported so that its embossed surface 95 isnormally in predetermined relationship with :respectto the die so that acap seated on the end -95" of the sleeve member, as hereinafterdescribed, will be properly locatedin thedie within :very closetolerances. As shown in Fig. 4a, the sleeve member 95 is in itsoperative position and isguided from its normal'to its operativeposition by means of a cylindrical guide fitted into an Movable withinthe sleeve member 95 is a rod 95, the upper end of -wh-ich is reduced indiameter as at 91. to pro- I vide .a shoulder 98. The portion 91 ofreduced diameter terminates in a pyramidal point 91 which is preferablyof rectilinear cross section and the normal positionof the'sleeveinember95' is .below its embossed surface.

As the upper and lower gates approacheach otheim'the tapered portion 93of each hollow stein '90"first-engages the upperedge of a cap. andpushes it down in'the die until it seats on the dipper end95 of the'sleevemembey 95. Thereafter theyupper end of the cap is squeezedbetween the tapered portion 93 of the hollow-stem 90. and the flaredmouth or wallsv 62 of the die body ".56, so that the cup is held firmlyin the die by substantially its mouthportiononly. Theflower end ofthe'stem 90 stops a very slight distance above theclosed-end of vthe capand constitutes an anvil against which the closed and slightly protrudinend of the cap is driven b the subsesleeve 94. The latter upsets theclosed end or thereon-conforming partially to the profile of thee'oun'terbore 64 of the die. This operation is generally termed headingand is carried out in two steps, the first step, as described above,being At the sametimethat the-head is upset, it is stamped by theembossing -,;on; the end of the punch 95 and simultaneously the point91' of the rod 96 pierces the head enabling'the reduced portion 91 andshoulder'98 of ;-the rod to form a primer pocket ofth desired .Iih peand size.

:Sin th ap is first seated against-the lower gquent upward movement ofthe lower punch or 260 'fienaehdi matheadie, a d. :sin e h rokeof thpunch or: sleevemember; can he; held within .very. close limits, t e. rm or fianc thus; q med 0h thegzcap' wil-l beof. uniform dimensionsandconfiguration.

After the :tools. .of the upper and lower 'gates have been withdrawnfrom the caps, the. latter are indexed to the next operating station.Ewhich corres ondstothe. next/index station and at which the tubularbodies of the shells arefedto the caps. The bodies,are'deliveredsuccessively from a suitable; hopper 99 and in assubstantially uprihtcposition by meansof a pair of feed tracks :i'fillri-which,.asfishown; have guide means at th duterehdsthereof; see Figs-4a and 5,for..sup.- porting the rbodiesin their upright position astheyzaredisplaced from the tracks; I00 by suitable punches f0'3.oftheuppergate. Each guide means comprisesa rigid semicylindricalsleeve102-, the open side -l02'zof which is in the directionof movement of.the-dial as indicated by the arrow in-l-Fig:.-4a. The open side 1162.isadapted normally to be closed .by .apair of springbiasedcylindricalsegments H3 3 hinged at oppositesides of thesemiPcylind-rical. sleeve 102. The semicylindrical sleeve I02 andcylindrical. segments IM; thus. normally provide a substantially. closedtube for -guiding thebodies into thecaps. After abodyhasentered a. capand the feed punch N13 has been withdrawn, the dial is indexed movingtheupstandingbody against the hinged cylindrical-segmentsl i114 whichopen outwardly and enable the. body to pass outwardly therefrom andonto'th'e nextoperating station E.

The latter corresponds to the next indexing station. atwhich a pair. of.inspection and seating punches W5 0i. the-upper gate are adapted .tomove-down into engagement with thebody of the shell. *Each punch 1-05comprises a sleeve portion --l 06;having a flange Hi6 atits lower end toengage" the top edge of a shell body so as to. seat the body firmly inits capyand an inspection punch I01 resiliently-supported within thesleeve fllfi in the manner shown. Inasmuch as the .tools carried on thegates have a'predeterminedstroke, thepunch mils-adapted to detect bodiesof nonuniform length as well as to discover the presence of iorei'gnmaterials in the bodies. In either event the punch, like the inspectionpunches at otherstations, is arranged to actuate a stop mechanism ofwell known form to stop the machine.

-A fter -the shell bodies have been seated and inspected, eachpair ofassembled bodies and caps are indexed to the next operating station G atwhich base wads are delivered into thepartially assembledshells.

basewads are, in-the present embodiment, preformed and delivered-"fro ma suitable wad hobpenllllithrough; a pair of feed tracks 19 into thebodies of the shells. --To closely control and guide the movement of thewads. from the ends ois thetfeed. track's 1.09 into the breech end ofthe-lshellswthe endaoreach track may be pro- :videdwithawadtrans'ferelement H9 having transverse flanges l l I slidably engagedin vertical grooves M2 .on opposite sides of the end-of thetraclcA109,.seeFig. 6. The transfer element H0 hasaverticalbushedaperture l ill in axial alignment-with a punch H3 of theupper gate, the lowlerend ofthe aperture terminatingin a body aligning;shoelll. provided with. a countersink :luladfuon.itsunderside tomguidethe-upper end of the. .shell v.body. into axial... alignment with thepunch. .Aihorizo'ntal. aperture 5 is provided in s1eeye;;member 95;before be1ng;.clamped-at-i;ts 575 the qwall aof.the--.transfer.--:element in. communi means (not shown) therebytemporarily closing the end of the feed track and moving the align-' ingshoe I I4 into engagement with the upper end of the shell body to holdtheshel] body while the wad is being inserted therein. As the-punch H3is withdrawn from the shell body-and up through the transfer element H0,the latter is returned to its normal position to enable another wad tobe fed thereto from the track I09.

At the next operating station H, which corresponds to the next indexingstation, a pair of seating and detecting tools of the upper gate of :2:

conventional construction, as shown at H6, enter into the bodies of theshells and firmly engage and seat the wads in the bottoms thereof. Thesetools may also be arranged to detect foreign materials or irregularitiesin the heights of the wads.

From these operating stations, the shells are indexed to the nextstation I, Fig. 4b, at which th initial operations of hunting (wadcompressing) and final heading are performed. To this end, punches ofthe upper and lower gate move toward each other, each of the lowerpunches I I! being guided by cylindrical guides of the platen 25 andconstituting, in one respect, a ram for partially flattening the flangeof the head; and in another respect an anvil against which the base wadin the cap is driven by one of the pair of punches I I8 of the uppergate. As shown, each punch II8 embodies a stem portion II8 whichtelescopes into the body of the shell and exerts a predeterminedpressure on the base wad to com-press the latter. A spring loadedplunger H9 protruding from the end of the stem serves as a mandrel topreserve the apertures through the base wad and primer pocket during thebunting and final heading operations.

The tools used at the next operating station J are substantiallyidentical to those described for the preceding station and performsubstantially the same function, the final heading of the cap beingcompleted and the base wad fully compressed. It will be noted thatduring these operations, th base wad is partially squeezed out into therim of the cap and is firmly anchored therein.

The assembled caps, bodies and base wads are then indexed to a pair ofprimer stations K at which primers are inserted into the primer pocketsof the caps. In the present embodiment, the primers are carried in aconveyor belt I20 which is suitably mounted in a cut-out portion 259 ofthe platen 25. The belt is driven intermittently from a power source(not shown) and is adapted to carry a pair of live primers substantiallyopposite the primer pockets of a pair of caps as each pair of caps isindexed to the primer station.

At the primer inserting station, a pair of punches I22 of the lower gatemove up against the primers in the conveyor belt I28 and displace theminto the pockets of the caps. To detect those primers which may beinadvertently fired during insertion into the primer pockets, sonicdetectors I23 may be mounted above the open ends of the shell bodiesandarranged to automatically stop the machine in the event a primer isfired. I

After the primers have been inserted into the primer pockets of thecaps, the shells are indexed to the next operating station L, at whichthe primers are firmly seated in the primer pockets. The tools foraccomplishing these operations are substantially identical to those foraccomplishing the preceding operations and include sonic detectors.

The primer seating operation completes the assembly of the shells withthe exception of tuming in the flared mouths of the caps. At the nextindex station M suitable tools of the upper gate are provided forperforming this function and for simultaneously removing the shells fromthe assembling dies 55. As shown,- each tool comprises a mandrel I24which is adapted to telescope into the body of the shell; and a colletI25 which is fixed onthe mandrel and which is connected by, a spring I26to a fianged sleeve member I21 attached to the upper gate. The mandrelI24 is thus adapted to apply a predetermined load, measured by the forceof the spring I26, to the top of the base wad to push the shell out ofits die 55. As the shell is pushed downwardly through the die, the land6!] of the die irons the flared upper end of the cap inwardly around thebody of the shell in a tight fit which constitutes a substantially gastight seal. The completed shells are discharged through a pair ofapertures iii; the platen 25 into suitable discharge chutes Theassembling dies of the dial 5!] are then indexed to the next station Nat which a pair of tools I29 of the upper gate are driven downpositively into the dies to remove any shells therein which were notremoved previously by the predetermined force applied thereon by themandrels I24. Such shells are usually malformed or defective in somerespect which has caused them to stick in the dies, and hence theseshells are discharged into separate discharge chutes I30.

The next operating station 0 is an inspection station at which punchesI32 and I33 of the upper and lower gates respectively move into the diesfrom both ends thereof to inspect for the presence of foreign materials.

At the final operating station P, the assembling dies are cleaned bymeans of blasts of air provided by perforated air tubes I34 carried bythe upper gate. In this manner, all particles of paper or metal areremoved from the dies so that they are then ready to receive new caps atthe first operating station.

In accordance with the above described mode of operation and apparatus,the components of an unloaded shot shell are completely assembled whileretained in a single die obviating the use of several difierent machinesand the attendant time delay occasioned by handling separate lots ofcomponents.

As pointed out above, the arrangement of tools may be readily modifiedeither to increase the number of separate steps for completelyassembling a shell or for decreasing the number of steps over thosedescribed above. For example, the wads may be wound and inserted intothe breech ends of the bodies, as characterizes known methods, and theassembled bodies and wads may then be delivered to the caps at the bodyfeeding stationEfibhereby liminatingthe" operationsattheWad-'insertingstaoions 'Gafid' E (Fig. 4a)

"These andother bbvious modifica tions mayr-be made and' are inbltx'ddWi'thifithe scope 'of the invention, as defined in the following claims.

1. In 'a machine for "assembling "a finished emptyshotshellfrom" a setbfcomponehtsmomprising a' 'cup shaped head blahka bodyanjd a primer; adie having a'substantially 'c'ylindrical mid poiftionland, a?counterbordi head" forming recess adjacent one end of said land arid"an' outwardly flaring mouthextending from the opposite eridbf said landmeansfor' feeding a cup shaped substantially" 'cyl'izid'rical head blank"to saidf'die; pun'ch means for" dformingkbhe *head; portion -"of saidblank into said"-counterboredsrecessrpunch means for' expandingthe--mouthportion-ofsaid said: head cup" through saiddie land 4:0contract 1 2 said expanded mouth poitioxf-to-substantiallyoylindricalshape while ejecting the assembld she'll from said die.

A m aohine-accofding to blaim 1','-'comp!'i'si1;g means for feding=.a*base"wad; .anwmeans fir assembling said base wad with' said 'body, headin=said dieby the expansion ot-the-mouth portion thereof FRITZ FISGHER.

REFERENCES CITED il'llhe; following jlffBIfBDOESL, are "of; recordiimithe "file, of ,this; patent:

